80 THE ASIATIC FUE-SEAL ISLANDS. ^ 



The wind was rapidly increasing in strength and the landing threatened to become 

 impracticable. T therefore reluctantly returned to the ship. Captain Moser, antici- 

 pating a storm, decided to stand out to sea and seek a lee under Sakhalin. It was 

 well that he did so, for we soon found ourselves in a howling gale, the worst weather 

 we had yet encountered on the trip. Landing on Eobben Island, therefore, could not 

 be effected again until August 31. 



The weather on that day being fine, a number of photographs were taken 



(pis. 1-9). 



Going ashore about 7 o'plock a. m., I went at once to the rookery, where as yet 

 but a few cows or pups had gone into the water. At 8 o'clock there were about 600 

 females, as counted by me, and 18 bulls. No bachelors could be distinguished. The 

 pups— considerably in excess of the cows— were lying too close together to be 



counted. 



The observation spot on top of the rock just behind the houses is a ii;ost excellent 

 one, as the seals are located only about 50 feet below, and, as I have suggested before, 

 Eobben Island is the ideal spot for anyone who wishes to study the habits of the 

 seals on the rookery. A little precaution is needed in approaching the edge of the 

 rock, as one is so near that the seals are easily frightened. On the day of my visit 

 the only drawback was the overwhelming number of small flies covering everybody 

 and everything. 



The present rookery beach consists of the same pebbly sand which forms the 

 beach all around the Eobben Island roek. There are, consequently, no indications to 

 be found of the previous extent of the rookery, and even the scanty vegetation of 

 Elymus and the yellow-flowered composite, Senecio pseudo-arnica, fail to furnish any 

 evidence. The Eobben Island beach, on the whole, is about as different from the 

 rookery beaches of the Pribilof and Commander Islands as it can well be. 



As a consequence of the sandy and loose nature of the beach, no'kelp grows on 

 it, as a matter of course, and if the pups, as alleged by Captain Webstei-, have been_ 

 obliged to feed uijou the algte which grows on the beach, there would have been no 

 seals there now. However, a considerable quantity of large, coarse kelp, grown on 

 the rocky reef in deep water, was washed up on the beach by the gale of the previous 

 day. At the southern end of the breeding ground a small pod of pups were amusing 

 themselves by playing with it half in and half out of the water, where the gentle 

 surf agitated it. They would take large pieces of it in their mouths and shake it 

 exactly as kittetis would shake a piece of ])aper, and it was quite apparent that it was 

 the agitation of the leaves by the waves which incited the pups to the play, as the 

 kelp everywhere else was left in peace. 



The pups were frisky, and a good many of them went into the water later on, some 

 of them being quite expert in diving through the surf. All seemed to be in excellent 

 condition, and I saw none that might be considered sick or starving. 



I counted seven dead pups only on the beach back of the seals, but a few may also 

 have been lying between the latter, though a pretty close examination with the binocle 

 failed to reveal any. Five of these carcasses appeared fresh and weie quite plump; 

 only two are rather old and flattened. 



Quite a number of turnstoues {Arenaria interpres) were busy among the pups, 

 picking flies off the sleeping ones or dodging those awake, who seemed to delight in 

 chasing the birds. 



